A scathing internal Navy probe into the 2017 collision that drowned seven sailors on the guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald details a far longer list of problems plaguing the vessel, its crew and superior commands than the service has publicly admitted.
Obtained by Navy Times, the “dual-purpose investigation” was overseen by Rear Adm. Brian Fort and submitted 41 days after the June 17, 2017, tragedy.
It was kept secret from the public in part because it was designed to prep the Navy for potential lawsuits in the aftermath of the accident.
Unsparingly, Fort and his team of investigators outlined critical lapses by bridge watchstanders on the night of the collision with the Philippine-flagged container vessel ACX Crystal in a bustling maritime corridor off the coast of Japan.
Their report documents the routine, almost casual, violations of standing orders on a Fitz bridge that often lacked skippers and executive officers, even during potentially dangerous voyages at night through busy waterways.

Thank you to Brett Kavanaugh for his courage under fire, and to Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley and Susan Collins for their own unique acts of courageous obstinance in the face of vicious lies, acts of perfidy and the mob spawned by them.

If you ever have a doubt that this was a complete set-up from start to finish, and that the orchestrated women’s campaign against men in this country isn’t real, please believe it.

Catholic Vote put out the most moving, most DAMNING ad I’ve ever seen before Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

…then you should face the amount of jail time that they would have faced had they been convicted

A young Long Island woman who spent over a year insisting that she was raped by two Sacred Heart University football players officially admitted in court Tuesday that she’s been lying the entire time.
Nikki Yovino, 19, pleaded guilty to charges of falsely reporting an incident and interfering with police, according to the Connecticut Post.
The former college student reportedly accepted a plea deal, and will now serve a reduced sentence of one year in prison. She had been facing six.

She should not be looking at 1 year; she should be facing many, many years plus a life-long stint on the sex crime list.

According to four administration officials, the main allegations were brought forth by Vice President Mike Pence’s Army physician Dr. Jennifer Pena, who is assigned to Pence by the White House Medical Unit and does not work directly for the office of the Vice President. Those officials contend Pena has held a long-time grudge against Jackson because of his continuing promotions in the White House. She began her career at the White House during the Obama administration. According to the officials, Pena, who is still active military and assigned to the White House Military Office, did not follow proper protocol to report on the allegations. Instead, she went directly to the Senate with the support of some current and former White House medical staff who were her loyalists. None of the allegations she allegedly brought forth have been substantiated.

She “held a long time grudge“?!?! That’s IT?!?! And in this #MeToo #MeanGirlzRule age, I guess that gives you the “by your leave” to just act out your fit of pique and destroy willy nilly, as long as the target goes down.

There’s United States Army honor, courage and integrity values for you!

Now, as Ebola rightly pointed out, ANY service member can jump the chain of command and go straight to their Congressional delegation, for ANYTHING, free of repercussion. In most cases, those events have to do with legitimate service beefs, not indulging in personal vendettas and acting out.

It also makes one wonder, as all the “loyalists” and the ringleader herself are OBAMA HOLDOVERS, why weren’t these horrific allegations and turbid insinuations brought up when Mr. Feelz was president? SURELY HE was the guy to vanquish this toxically masculine insult to all that is moral and straight in the White House Medical Corps?

Surely he was. Unless justice wasn’t where you were going in the first place.

As RealJeffS said, I too, am hoping she finds herself – swiftly – in a lovely methadone clinic in Nan’s San Fran, accepting dirty needles back from the needy. It would be quite a while before I’d trust her with clean ones.

Broward County, Fla., school officials portray as a great success their Obama administration-inspired program offering counseling to students who break the law, instead of having them arrested or expelled. They insist that it played no role in February’s school massacre by Nikolas Cruz. They also claim that in fact juvenile recidivism rates are down and school safety is up, thanks to the program.
The evidence tells a far different story.

Broward County juvenile justice division records, federal studies of Broward school district safety and the district’s own internal reporting show that years of “intensive” counseling didn’t just fail to reform repeat offender Cruz, who allegedly went on to shoot and kill 17 people at his high school. Records show such policies have failed to curtail other campus violence and its effects now on the rise in district schools — including fighting, weapons use, bullying and related suicides.

Meanwhile, murders, armed robberies and other violent felonies committed by children outside of schools have hit record levels, and some see a connection with what’s happening on school grounds. Since the relaxing of discipline, Broward youths have not only brazenly punched out their teachers, but terrorized Broward neighborhoods with drive-by shootings, gang rapes, home invasions and carjackings.

A group of students from Rockledge High School in Brevard County briefly walked out of class Friday to show their support for the Second Amendment.

About 75 students, according to a head count by school administrators, walked onto the school’s track carrying the American flag and signs that said “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” and “I support the right to bear arms.” The event lasted about 20 minutes and then students returned to class.

Deaton — who was wearing a T-shirt that read, “my rights don’t end where your feelings begin” — said the event was meant to clear misconceptions about the Second Amendment, not support or oppose any particular political stances.

Schools are safer than they were in the 90s, and school shootings are not more common than they used to be, researchers say

“This is not an epidemic”
Mass school shootings are incredibly rare events. In research publishing later this year, Fox and doctoral student Emma Fridel found that on average, mass murders occur between 20 and 30 times per year, and about one of those incidents on average takes place at a school.

Tons of info, facts, and figures to go into battle with the tears and fears crowd.

Something horrific broke yesterday – of course, the day AFTER the Orange County Sheriff blustered his anti-gun way through a mob-enhanced CNN townhall – that should have every single person in this country’s eyes crossed in rage.

…[Sheriff] Israel said the video shows Peterson arriving at the west side of Building 12 and taking up a position, but he didn’t go inside. Israel said Peterson “clearly” knew there was a shooter in the building and was outside for about four minutes. The shooting lasted about six minutes, Israel said.

When asked what the deputy should have done, Israel said, “Went in, addressed the killer, killed the killer.”

Peterson is mentioned as part of a 2016 social services agency investigation into Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old identified by police as the gunman. According to a Florida Department of Children and Families report detailing that investigation, Peterson was approached by investigators and “refused to share any information … regarding [an] incident that took place with” the teenager.

That same year, the sheriff’s office revealed Thursday, it was told about “third hand information” from a “neighbor’s son” suggesting that Cruz “planned to shoot up the school,” although the specific school was not listed. The sheriff’s office said a deputy contacted the caller, determined that Cruz had knives and a BB gun and sent the information to the school resource officer — presumably Peterson. It is unclear whether he investigated.

HOW badly did the Orange County Sheriff and the FBI blow MULTIPLE CHANCES to prevent this tragedy from ever beginning, less mind coming to the point of bodies in the hall:

‘School shooter in the making’: All the times authorities were warned about Nikolas Cruz

Nikolas Cruz’s dangerous and disturbing behavior was flagged repeatedly to authorities, both local and federal, over a span of two years starting in February 2016. But no one stopped him before he killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Here’s a time line of incidents where Cruz was reported to law enforcement. Many of the incidents involve the threat of a school shooting.

But the Orange County Sheriff blames the NRA.
The children at the CNN mobhall shout “You’re a MURDERER!!!” at Dana Loesch.
If you haven’t heard, Alamo, Enterprise and National car rental companies are withdrawing their NRA discount programs from LAW ABIDING AMERICAN CITIZENS…

Hi. Thanks for contacting us. Alamo, National, and Enterprise ended the program – effective March 26. John

I am shaking my head at all this talk of “children” having to “learn” to “talk” to the “different” kids now. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? “Cool kids” don’t talk to each other anymore at the lunch table, less mind take notice of the less than socially adept kid. They all are glued to their phones. The child who is IN that isolated position or, even worse, tortured at school because of his “differences,” real or imaginary, USED to be able to ESCAPE once the school day ended and the terrible gauntlet of a bus ride or lonely walk home was safely passaged. NOW, there IS no escape. The torture comes at your 24/7, reaches into that formerly safe space where frazzled, hurt feelings could be soothed and quieted to face the next day, the next round. There IS no respite for the weird, the outsider now. No healing. No chance to mature, get your feet under you and, hopefully, grow out of the terrific resentment and hate built up by being SO different in this newer world these kids exist in. It’s horribly sad and terrifically dangerous. No conversational skills, no empathy development, no coping mechanisms learned, and THAT’S for the regular “everyone gets a trophy” crowd.

All I ever see, even in a group of school girls walking down the street, is heads in their phones. No giggling, hands over their mouths secret sharing. No shrieks of silly horror between them, unless it’s about a momentary picture they share between them. Then back to the screens. With nary a word. No wonder they’re melting down in schools, mentally and sometimes murderously.

The Siamese twin elephant in the room is disintegration of parental skills enabled by/coupled with the rise of technology and the end result being foisted upon society.

Our encounter changed the day for me. While I tried to dive back into my liberal podcast, my mind kept being pulled back to the gas station. I couldn’t stop thinking about the man who called himself a “redneck” who came to our rescue. I sized him up as a Trump voter, just as he likely drew inferences from my Prius and RESIST sticker. But for a moment, we were just two people and the exchange was kindness (his) and gratitude (mine).

As I drove home, I felt the full extent to which Trump has actually diminished my own desire to be kind. He is keeping me so outraged that I hold ill will toward others on a daily basis. Trump is not just ruining our nation, he is ruining me. By the end of the drive, I felt heartbroken.

The student body at Berkeley has a lot on their plate these days what with the imminent arrival of Ben Shapiro sending everyone scrambling for their safe spaces and all. But with so much to be done on the social justice front there’s simply no rest for the weary.

In case you hadn’t heard, there are offensively named buildings to be tackled on campus. We must wipe away all vestiges of racism or colonialism or… something. With that in mind, the students are looking to change the name of Barrows Hall. That one clearly has to go because of the evil, sordid history of the man it was named after. (The College Fix)

click through to see who they want to rename the building after.

Nothing surprises me any more, but at least they are showing their true colors.

The KHOU reporter who saw a semi-truck stalled in rising water in a spot where, the year before, another truck driver had drowned in his stalled truck, flagged down a passing sheriff’s truck and boat to save the day.

…was supposed to shoot straight at the old heart strings, in the “how can anyone QUESTION her willingness to serve?!?!/ Donald Trump is MEAN and SUCKS!!!!!” vein.

But when you READ it – and the very careful phrasing the few military members who serve with her used when interviewed – it quite specifically makes the VERY PRACTICAL POINTS we’ve brought up repeatedly. Trans are FRAGILE. Far more fragile than flat footed folks, who are not allowed in to begin with. They are non-deployable (read that as: WORTHLESS TO THEIR UNIT) for YEARS. LITERALLY.

Transgender US soldier felt ‘fired’ by Trump’s tweet

The subject line read: “Announcing a personal change.”

The U.S. Army soldier took a deep breath before hitting the button that sent the email to more than 200 fellow troops.

“All considered, I am, and have been, traversing what is essentially a personal matter, but is something I must address publicly,” the email stated. “I am transgender.”

The April 13 email officially ended the secret that burned inside Capt. Jennifer Sims, who was known as Jonathan Sims. But the feeling of relief swiftly turned to unease last week after President Donald Trump tweeted that transgender troops were no longer welcome.

“I read the tweet while I was at work and you know it was devastating because I still have work to do and here I am reading basically what sounds like the president of the United States — who is the commander in chief, he is the ultimate boss of the military — telling me and anybody else that is transgender that we are fired,” Sims said.

Okay. I understand being upset, but let’s take a look at what your gender dysphoria is costing your UNIT…

…Sims has been on hormone therapy by her military doctor since November.

If she interrupts the treatment, her body will revert to being male.

“It would be very difficult to have to go through that,” said Sims, who is based at Hohenfels, a U.S. Army garrison in the German state of Bavaria…

Okay. So “since November” means she’s been taking the drugs for 10 months. So far, lost to her unit for TEN MONTHS. How’s the unit handling that and what’s next?

…Shorter had a lot of questions “being naturally curious and wanting to be a good friend because we didn’t really have a personal relationship. He’s, excuse me, she’s — see I still slip up sometimes — a single captain. I’m married with two daughters. Our lives are different.”

Shorter, 32, of Alanson, Michigan, describes himself as conservative. He said he struggles with his beliefs about what’s appropriate. An assistant operations officer for the battalion, Shorter is concerned about how Sims cannot deploy while undergoing medical procedures.

But Shorter, speaking on his own behalf and not that of the Army, said he would be “incredibly disappointed” if Sims, the best signal officer he has seen, were kicked out.

After Trump’s tweet, a few soldiers, including Shorter, asked Sims how she was doing. She didn’t know what to say.

Her pills will run out in three months. Doctors recommend 12 months of hormone therapy before surgery. The cost of her surgery can run close to $50,000, which Sims was expecting the military would help cover….

So she has to have a full year – UNDEPLOYABLE – on hormone treatments before she can have the surgery, which renders her, again, UNDEPLOYABLE darn near another year, on average, thanks to recuperative time and tons of counseling requirements. No pregnant woman EVER cost the service that. I’m sick of the argument.

Just WHERE does “the GOOD of the service” come into this again?

It DOESN’T. NONE of this is “GOOD” for the service OR, most importantly, the service MEMBERS who have to pick up the slack/take the overseas dets/get shot at/blown up more than they should have to because #feelingz allow their fellow servicemembers #SpecialStatus. The military is shorthanded enough as it is. And here THIS unit might well be losing the “best signal officer” they’ve seen.

What GOOD is she to the Army? How does she make it better? The Army is NOT required to be “good” to her. YOU have to bring something to the table besides a sunny disposition.

Then the practical matters of deploying. What happens in the hills of Afghanistan when the hormone pills didn’t arrive in the last shipment? What happens when the trans males, who still (because they were BORN with it) have their female bone structure, start to break down on humps? Testosterone doesn’t give you man-bones, nor change your pelvis.

Let’s not ignore the lifelong hormonal treatments the government picks up FOREVER (the fact that male to female trans get to keep their prostate, so there’s that to worry about, too), or that the VA is on the hook for any medical expenses incurred related to the surgery FOREVER, because it occurred during the service member’s period of service. A trans is basically a rated disability upon discharge from the service, with lifetime privilege.

No pregnant woman EVER cost the service that. And I’m sorry. When we’re looking at stripping one Basic Allowance for Housing payment away from married active duty couples because MONEY…we sure as Hell don’t have the bling for this.

Nope. The article makes the argument FOR the ban so much better than it makes the argument against it.

Thanks to a little-noticed auction sale, a South Bay couple are the proud owners of one of the most exclusive streets in San Francisco — and they’re looking for ways to make their purchase pay.

Tina Lam and Michael Cheng snatched up Presidio Terrace — the block-long, private oval street lined by 35 megamillion-dollar mansions — for $90,000 and change in a city-run auction stemming from an unpaid tax bill. They outlasted several other bidders.

Now they’re looking to cash in — maybe by charging the residents of those mansions to park on their own private street.

Those residents value their privacy — and their exclusivity. Past homeowners have included Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her financier husband, Richard Blum; House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi; and the late Mayor Joseph Alioto. A guard is stationed round the clock at the stone-gate entrance to the street to keep the curious away.

So imagine the residents’ surprise when San Jose residents Cheng and Lam wound up with the street, its sidewalks and every other bit of “common ground” in the private development that has been managed by the homeowners since at least 1905. That includes a string of well-coiffed garden islands, palm trees and other greenery that enhance the gated and guarded community at the end of Washington Street, just off Arguello Boulevard and down the hill from the Presidio.

“We just got lucky,”said Cheng, a real estate investor.

Of course, once said bazillionaires realized their paltry, neglected tax bill had suddenly become someone else’s taxable property, it was TWO. YEARS. LATER.

Nothing like being on-the-ball.

So they’re suing. Of course. The city to vacate the sale, the kids to stop them from reselling to another buyer (it might “complicate” them getting the tax case dismissed), etc. ad nauseum.

Do you think for two seconds you could sue one of them TWO YEARS LATER if they bought your property because of an unsatisfied tax lien? Oh, HAY-YULL no. You’d be laughed out of court, if they even let you file.